1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image scanning apparatus, such as a scanner or a copier, having a scanning position adjustment capability.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, personal computers have become very popular, and drastic improvements in performance and capabilities have been achieved. As a result, it has become possible for personal computers to perform processing requiring high power, such as editing full color images or optical character recognition (OCR). Thus, many people, including those having no special knowledge or skill, use flatbed image scanners.
Many photographic images are stored in an electronic manner such that electric image data are produced by scanning printed pictures or negative films and the resultant electric image data are stored in the form of image files or electronic albums on a hard disk or the like. The stored electric image data are then read and used, as required, from the hard disk. To meet a need for image scanners suitable for the above purpose, flatbed image scanners have been developed which have the capability of easily scanning a plurality of printed pictures or a plurality of frames of a film in a successive manner. A specific example of such a flatbed image scanner is disclosed, for example, in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2001-8002.
However, in those scanners, a carriage is returned to its home position (waiting position) each time one printed picture or one frame of a film is scanned. As a result, the carriage has to move back and forth between the home position and a printed picture or a frame of a film each time scanning is performed. This is very inefficient and requires a significant amount of time.